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Do you ever have a sense that you want more out of life? It’s a common theme with all people—even Christians. God desires for us to seek him and to hunger for more out of life. Paul counsels us not to live as if we are asleep, but to wake up into the transforming opportunity of being filled with God’s own spirit.

 

 

Expedition Ephesians
Hungry for More
Scott Shelton
September 19, 2010 

Ephesians 5:15-20

Let us pray. Come Holy Spirit, may the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts bring glory to you. Open our minds and hearts to learn from your word today. Amen.

A pastor named David Platt went to a country in Asia to work with underground house church leaders, because they were not able to worship Christ freely in their nation. He went to train them and teach them about God and the Bible. After eight hours of study on the Bible and theology, the leaders needed to go home for the night, but wanted to meet again the next day. The pastor asked if the leaders wanted to meet at the same time. They said, “No we want to meet earlier.” They met again the next day, when the leaders asked the pastor to teach them the entire Old Testament. The pastor said, “that would take a long time.” The people said, “We will do whatever it takes. Most of us are farmers, and we work all day, but we will leave our fields untended for the next couple of weeks to learn the Old Testament.” They were hungry for more. Hungry for more of God’s Word so that could teach it to others.

David goes on to tell what it is like to going to just a normal house church gathering – not an all-day training. It is a three hour service, late in the evening. He would be driven to the house under the cover of darkness, with a hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up. When arriving at the house church, he found sixty people gathered – from young to old – huddled together, sitting on small stools, or standing shoulder to shoulder along the wall and one light bulb dangles from the ceiling as the lone source of light. No sound system, no band, no piano, no cushioned chairs, no air-conditioned building – just the people of God and the word of God – and strangely that’s enough. The people are hungry for more.

I feel convicted when I compare their hunger to mine. When I think of hungering for more – it is often the 9:00 pm bowl of cereal I reward myself with for surviving the day. I wonder if there are ways I could be a better husband, a better father, a better pastor – and wonder how I get there. Despite the obstacles that we all face, there are lots of times when I am hungry for more, and I want to go to God’s word to learn what God has in store for us – how we can hunger more for him.

Paul tells us in this passage of Ephesians 5 how to get there.

We are digging in to God’s Word, week by week, verse by verse, and encourage you again to bring your own Bibles. And also to memorize either portions of Ephesians or all of it. Let’s now open up our Bibles, either your copy from home, the zpc copy, here on the screens, or from your memory. Let’s stand and say this passage together:

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been speaking often of being “in Christ.” I’d like to add today not only do we live in Christ, it is also Christ in us – through the Holy Spirit. In Christ, and with the Holy Spirit walking with us, we can hunger for so much more out of life. And when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are changed, inside out, so that we can live in Christ, and with the example of Christ.

Last week, our Pastor, Glenn McDonald, told us to wake up to the darkness of sexual immorality all around us. If we pick up where we left off, Paul cautions us once again in

v. 15 – he says, “Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

God calls us to be wise. How do we get wisdom? Throughout scriptures, God ties together wisdom and the fear of God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It is a holy respect for who God is – realizing his all-powerful stature, his love for us, his ability to hold our eternal life in his judgment.  

Paul says in verse 16, chapter 5, in God’s wisdom, we can make the most of every opportunity. Our time is precious, and we should be jealous of our time and the chance to have God encounters. Do you ever have one of those times when the hair on your neck stands up or you get a chill – because you sense God is present in a conversation, an event, a story you hear first hand? God is present and active through his Holy Spirit. And when we are filled with God’s spirit, we are more alert and aware of Him being with us. We can be ready for God to act in us and through us and in those around us.

In verse 17, God calls us to not be foolish, but to understand what the Lord’s will is. We can begin to know God’s will is just by studying his Word. ZPC is moving to ask each of us to be more engaged in worship, word, and the world. It might look like this. We come to worship to sing together, pray together, hear the Word, and be inspired. We go out from here, still finding ways to worship by the way we live out our faithfulness to God. We study the word either here at ZPC, at another Bible study, or on our own. Then we live out what God is telling us through God’s word, in the world and to the world, with the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit.

As Paul has encouraged from the beginning of this letter to depend on God’s grace, and told us that we have our identity wrapped up in Christ, he also encourages us how to live. Just the last few weeks, Paul and our Pastors have spoken to us about how to speak the truth in love, what to do with our anger, how to fight against sexual temptation, and today, Paul tells us to not get drunk and out of control, but instead to be filled with the Spirit.

This is not a sermon or a passage of scripture focused on drunkenness, but it is included in Paul’s teaching right here in Ephesians 5:18. Paul’s teaching is simple and direct: don’t get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery – or out of control immoral behavior. Certainly in today’s culture we are sensitive and have compassion for those who fight alcoholism, or an addiction to alcohol or drugs. We always want to point them not only to Christ, but to Christian counseling and places and people that can help them confront this sickness.

I think Paul points more to behavior more than a sickness. And as we heard last week, it is tough to live in America and in Christ. And in our suburban American culture, getting tipsy or even getting drunk is laughed about, even accepted as a fun way to escape from everyday pressures of life. So God is saying no to being drunk. But he gives a much bigger, better yes, to being filled with God’s Spirit. Being drunk means losing control. Being filled with the Spirit leads to having the fruit of the Spirit - one of which is – is self-control.  

Alcohol dulls our senses. It is an escape. But the Holy Spirit – God in us – sharpens our senses – God calls us not to escape, but to engage in life with his help. We may try to fill our hunger by filling our God-shaped hole with all kinds of things – alcohol, success, video games, fantasy football, but the only one who can fill us up is God. Our hunger for more is really a hunger to be closer to God.

When we ask God’s Spirit into our lives, Paul attaches four actions which can help us to live more for God and more like God. They are:

1. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs – v. 19a. This is fellowship and worship with other Christians. Instead of hungering for what the world gives, as we read last week, obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, God calls us to encourage one another, and we can do this as we speak to one another and as we worship together as people who share the same faith.
2. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord – v. 19b. Look for ways to worship – sing out in worship – sing out in your car – find ways to worship God through heart moving music. Add worship CD’s to your or add worship songs to add to your ipod playlist. When we are filled with God’s spirit, we have more joy, and with more listening to and singing of more worship, it helps to create hunger and excitement for God.
3. Give thanks for everything – v. 20. Glenn mentioned two Sundays ago – that one way to find that we are not right with God is being irritated easily. When we are in tune with God – we are not so irritated but thankful. God even calls us to be thankful for everything - even the difficulties we face – for in facing difficulty, we are driven deeper into dependence on God. This thanks to God helps develop hunger. I went to a missions conference a few years back where the speaker was more say Spirit-filled or charismatic than I am. During his time up front, he shouted on many occasions, “God! WE need you! WE need you! We need you!” While my emotions were slightly uncomfortable with the shouting, my mind, pondered what he was saying. Without God, we are only like everyone else. We need something more, we need what God has. He was right, we do need to pray to God with passion, “We need you! WE need you! WE need you!”
4. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You’ll hear more about this next week as we discover what Ephesians says about marriage and relationships.

How do we get this filling of the Holy Spirit?  

We can understand this concept better if we understand the meaning of the words “be filled.” So with some help on grammar from British theologian John Stott - and let’s dive into what this passage means when it says be filled.

The verb, be filled has four important understandings. They are:  

1. Imperative mood – “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” is a command from God – not a tentative suggestion, but an obligation. We must follow God’s commands: love God love others, go and make disciples, be filled with the Spirit.
2. Plural form - for all Christians – written to the whole Christian community, not just for super Christians for our charismatic friends – but for all of us – even us here as Presbyterians who spend more time talking about God the Father and God the Son, Jesus. All of us are called to be filled with God’s Spirit.
3. Passive voice – it really means, let the Spirit fill you – yield to God to do this in you and for you. How do we yield? We ask God for the Spirit in prayer – we humble ourselves – we put off other things – the temptation, wine, worldly distractions – so that we can open the avenues of our hearts, minds, and souls for God – open up the lines of communication to him through prayer – so that we can talk to God and to listen to what God has to tell us through His Spirit.
4. Present tense in the imperative mood in the Greek – it means simply to be continually filled – not a one time occurrence. When you are saved by God through Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. But to be filled with the Spirit you yield to God daily, and weekly, as you worship him, giving thanks, and joining others in praising God. In God’s kingdom, there is one baptism of the Holy Spirit when you are saved, but there are many fillings of the Spirit.

I own an old bike – but a useful bike. The tires are not flat – but they lose a little air with time. The tires need a little fresh filling of air every time I ride my bike. Think of your Christian life – daily – like that – each time you go out for a ride in the world – you need a fresh filling of God’s Spirit.  

The Bible commands us to be filled with God’s Spirit but doesn’t give specific instructions. Christian leaders over the centuries have given us some great practical ideas that have worked and that we might try. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, wrote about a practice called Spiritual breathing. In this practice, a Christian who already knows Christ as savior and has the Holy Spirit in him or her, then asks God to fill them again.  

Exhale = impure, the world                  Inhale = God’s Holy Spirit

In spiritual breathing, we exhale the impure and inhale the pure. We exhale – and when we do – we confess our sin – and thank God for his forgiveness of it. We inhale – and ask God to fill us again with the Holy Spirit.  

The word spirit – is “pneuma” – which means breath, wind, or spirit. In breathing in God’s Spirit – we are yielding control to God for the next meeting, the next phone call, the next day of our life. May God’s Spirit guide us as we go about our business instead of us having to be in control.

Then you live expectantly. Many years ago, I was frustrated at myself for not having more times where I was talking about my faith with people. I prayed to God out of this frustration and asked God to send someone in my path that I could talking about him with. Then I watched, expecting God to answer that prayer. In less than 24 hours, a person came to me with a question about faith, and we ended up having a great conversation about God and spiritual things. The conversation ended without great changes in him, but I certainly knew God had answered my prayer and I was more aware of what God was doing around me. I am convicted that I need to pray this kind of prayer and live this each and every day.

The Presbyterian Church with its focus on the study of the Word is comfortable to me. But God does not call us to comfort. God calls us to follow with not only with our minds, but also with our hearts, souls, and strength. Sometimes I can be so scheduled and focused on my own stuff, that I don’t make room for God. But being in touch with where God’s Spirit is leading me takes me out of my comfort zone. I not only depend on God’s Word for guidance, but also God’s Spirit.  

Christian author David Platt says that when we ask God for certain things in prayer, he often gives us the Spirit instead of the requested item, so that God can work in us and through us while still maintaining some sense of our freedom. When a tragedy strikes, you pray for God to comfort you. He doesn’t comfort you, instead he sends His Spirit, the Comforter. The Holy Spirit literally comes in and walks with you in your pain. If you need to advice or guidance to make a big decision, God doesn’t just make the decision for you, but sends the Guide and Counselor to enable you to make that decision. We ask God for love joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control – he gives us the Spirit who can make these fruit a reality in your life. He delights in giving us himself.

A businessman from Alabama had achieved success, running a business in which he was passionate about, and was happily married and living in his dream home. But he felt something missing. He was a Christian but realized he had neglected pursuing God to pursue worldly success.  

Through his church, he found himself on a mission trip in a city dump in Honduras. As he ministered to people in this horrible dump, he remembers seeing a woman eight months pregnant searching for food. He said that God asked him, “What are you going to do with what I have given you? How are you going to use your influence, leadership, and resources in the world around you?” He realized for the first time that God had a purpose in mind for him than the just the pursuit of more of what he had. The man still owns his own business, but lets someone else run it. He still makes money, but gives a lot of it away – through a ministry he began with some others which provides clean water around the world in communities where people die of preventable waterborne diseases. How did he hear God speak? Through the Holy Spirit speaking to his spirit through him being open to God. Through the Holy Spirit as his guide, he now hungers for something more meaningful, significant, and eternal than just his career.

Today and this week, as you lift food to your mouths, or as you pray before meals with your family or by yourself, I’d like you to add a silent prayer in your head. You can pray, Lord, as I hunger for this food, may I hunger for more of you. Teach me to hunger for you and the things that are important to you.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

May we hunger for more of God – in Christ – and be filled with God’s Spirit!

Let us pray.